184 research outputs found
Procalcitonin as an Endogenous Biomarker for Mastitis in Cows
No full textMastitis is one of the most common diseases of dairy cows. Procalcitonin (PCT) has been described as an endogenous inflammatory biomarker for bacterial infections. The aim of this study was to find possible correlations between PCT concentrations in the serum and milk of cows with mastitis and their clinical signs and disease progression. In total, 88 dairy cows were examined, of which 30 animals were diagnosed with clinical mastitis, 30 had subclinical mastitis, and 28 were designated as a healthy control group. The diseased animals were re-examined after 12 days. All PCT levels in this study were determined by a species-specific ELISA. All three groups could be differentiated from each other based on serum and milk PCT levels. The animals with clinical mastitis showed the highest mean concentrations of PCT (serum: 2641 pg/mL; milk: 1326 pg/mL), and the lowest PCT concentrations were found in the healthy control group (serum: 1166 pg/mL; milk: 176 pg/m). Over the course of the disease, results from the kinetics study showed that PCT levels remained high for the entire observation period. The results from this study showed that the PCT concentration could be used to differentiate between clinical mastitis, subclinical mastitis, and healthy cows
Pancreatolithiasis in a cat with chronic pancreatitis
No full textSUMMARY Pancreatolithiasis has been described in humans and cattle. In cats, only three reports have documented the condition so far. In humans, pancreatolithiasis is associated with chronic pancreatitis, whereas in cattle, the condition is asymptomatic. In humans, decreased pancreatic stone protein (PSP) levels may promote the crystallisation and deposition of calcium carbonate. This case report describes a cat with chronic pancreatitis and pancreatolithiasis. The mechanism of pancreatolith formation in cats remains unclear because we have paucity of information about this condition in cats. Compared with humans, pancreatolithiasis seems to be more common than in cats. Determining the consequences of chronic pancreatitis in cats requires an investigation of feline PSP and other factors. This might reduce the risk of pancreatoliths
Prolonged myocardial protection during hypothermic storage: potential application for cardiac surgery and myocardial tissue engineering
No full textThe use of a blockchain-based smart import declaration to reduce the need for manual cross-validation by customs authorities
No full textFor determining the correctness of an import declaration lodged by a declarant within international shipping, customs authorities rely on manual cross-validation of the declaration with other trade documents. However, the sheer volume of import declarations lodged annually makes it impossible to manually cross-validate each declaration. Smart contracts have the potential to automatically aggregate relevant information from blockchain-based ledgers for lodging and cross-validation. In this paper we explore how such smart contract could be implemented. We demonstrate that a smart import declaration can be used to automatically aggregate information from different sources (e.g., pro forma invoice data elements stored on the blockchain ledger). However, technical and organizational considerations that are inherent to blockchain technology need to be addressed for the smart import declaration to be acceptable for both customs authorities and declarants. It is therefore suggested that future work focusses on data standards required to enable automatic aggregation of relevant trade information and the generation of the import declaration and governance of the smart import declaration by customs authorities to assure correctness.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Information and Communication Technolog
Citizen engagement in an open election data initiative: A case study of Indonesian's "Kawal Pemilu"
No full textCitizen engagement is key to the successful and sustainable use of Open Government Data (OGD), involving multiple activities ranging from the retrieval and conversion of raw data to OGD based applications, to the use of these applications to solve societal problems. However, there is a lack of insight into what drives citizens to engage in OGD initiatives. Such insight helps inform policymakers in stimulating and improving the engage ability of an OGD program. This study aims to identify factors that influence why citizens engage in OGD initiatives. To attain this objective, we conducted a single case study of citizen engagement in an open election data initiative in Indonesia. Our study shows that social altruism as an intrinsic motivation is a strong driver for citizens to start and continue engaging with open election data. Low data quality appeared not to hinder citizens from engaging in the OGD initiative; in contrast, it can lead to more engagement. Election is typically concerning with political participation, yet trust and political efficacy factors only marginally influenced citizen engagement in our case study. The case shows that, in a time-critical situation where potential social conflicts were seen to threaten the citizens' lives, collective actions are enabled by the availability of OGD. We draw some key lessons learnt for policymakers to enhance OGD engage ability. Further research is needed to examine whether factors found in this particular case also apply in different settings.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Information and Communication Technolog
Writing Stories of and from the Future: Fostering Personal and Socio-Political Action
No full textThis chapter takes the shape of alternating viewpoints on using stories of and from the future as vehicle for resistance and personal and social change. Clinical psychologist and fiction author Nick Wood focuses on the writing of his debut novel Azanian Bridges and how he weaved in his experiences with an ex-patient (the unfolding ‘Sibusiso’s’ story). Narrative psychologist Anneke Sools draws on examples from her research on how personal narrations from the future (Letters from the Future) guide present thought and action. We share our ideas on: (1) Why Write Science Fictional Differences? (2) What Is the Ground, for the Seeds of Stories? (3) The Story Seeds Are Sharing What You Know-and Learning Too; (4) What’s the Water on the Ground? The Impetus for Developing an Idea; (5) Whose Story Is This? (6) Which Stories Get Heard? (7) Feedback from Our Storying; (8) Just Doing It: Ten Steps for Turning Story Seeds into Trees. All in all, our respective viewpoints and experiences can scaffold ideas about changing the lives of individuals and communities. Together, we propose ways forward for promoting the creation of stories that embrace the struggles of now, but also potential ways of building alternative, hopefully more meaningful and communal futures.</p
Challenges to government use of social media
No full textThe use of different kinds of social media by government has been steadily increasing over the last decade. National, regional and local governments often employ social media to communicate and interact with citizens, organizations and/or other government agencies. However, as many authors highlight, the use of social media by government has many challenges, barriers and issues which undermine governments' actual use of social media. We argue, however, that prior research has to some extent overlooked the nature of challenges, in so far as it does not fully address differences between them and other elements, such as risks. This has resulted in a debate on challenges that includes both general barriers and risks of social media use by governments which, as a consequence, does not allow for consideration of the different actions that are needed to counter challenges and risks.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.OLD Urban Renewal and Housin
Unraveling Transparency and Accountability in Blockchain
No full textBlockchain technology is heralded for improving trust and can provide a new approach for creating transparency and promoting accountability of government activities. However, it is still not clear how and in what ways blockchain technologies can improve this. This study examines the mechanisms and capability of blockchain technology to contribute to improved transparency andaccountability in government. We use a set of system transparency and accountability concepts and mechanisms to critically assess the capabilities of blockchain . By means of a land registration case in Indonesia we investigate the effects of blockchain on the transparency and accountability of the system. Creating transparency and accountability might be more difficult than expected, as non technical issues need to be addressed. Based on our assessment we discuss key issues, including digital ID, privacy, interoperability, connectivity and technology aware population, computational efficiency and storage size, acceptability, check and control mechanism, data validity, digital signature, algorithm transparency, law and regulation support, and dispute resolution, that must be considered in developing a transparent and accountable blockchain based e-Government system.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Information and Communication Technolog
Current and expected roles and capabilities of CIOS for the innovation and adoption of new technology
No full textGovernments across the word are under pressure to adopt new technologies and to innovate and transform their processes. Some governments have introduced the role of Chief Information Officer (CIO) to facilitate these innovations though adoption of new technologies. The traditional CIO role of improving operational efficiency is now shifting towards exploring new IT-enabled opportunities required in digital transformation. In this context, CIO capabilities are expanding to be more involved in administrative processes and digital transformation, however, their organizational role seem to lag behind. This paper is aimed at evaluating the current role of CIOs and to provide policy recommendations to strengthen their role. Data was collected during a session in which roles and capabilities of CIOs were discussed. In particular, we found that often the CIO was positioned as having an IT role, whereas a more organizational role was needed. CIOs should develop capabilities to support digital transformation and to develop architecture that is adaptive and agile. The expectations of the CIO and the role of the CIO need to be better aligned.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository ‘You share, we take care!’ – Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Information and Communication Technolog
β-defensin-4 as an endogenous biomarker in cows with mastitis
No full textIntroduction
Defensins are peptides with antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effects. Their concentration could be altered during infections and thus provide information on the prognosis and course of the disease. The aim of the present study was to investigate the defensin concentration in cows with mastitis in order to find correlations between clinical expression and course of the disease and the defensin concentration in milk and blood.
Methods
A total of 85 dairy cows were examined. Of these, 30 animals suffered from acute clinical mastitis, 25 animals were diagnosed with subclinical mastitis and 30 animals were considered a healthy comparison group. Beta-Defensin-4 (DEFB-4) was determined by a species-specific enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) (Bovine Defensin Beta 4 ELISA Kit, MyBioSource).
Results
The highest concentrations of DEFB-4 were detected in the animals with acute clinical mastitis. Values of 0 to 895 pg/mL (median: 115 pg/mL) were measured in milk and 40–1,016 pg/mL (median: 245 pg/mL) in serum. The concentrations of this group differed significantly from those of the animals with subclinical mastitis (p < 0.0001 serum; p = 0.015 milk). In this group, concentrations of 15–211 pg/mL (median: 46 pg/mL) were recorded in milk and 20-271 pg/mL (median: 85 pg/mL) in serum.
Discussion
Our results also show that in cases of acute mastitis after 12 days of treatment there is still an active inflammatory process in the tissue, because no significant reduction of somatic cells and defensin could be found after re-examination. Since the DEFB-4 concentrations of animals with clinical mastitis that had to be treated with antibiotics differed significantly from those of animals with subclinical mastitis that did not require antibiotic treatment, it can be assumed that bovine DEFB-4 is an important endogenous parameter for the defense against bacterial infections of the udder
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